| |
 |
|
|
|
|
      
|
|
| De intramuros a extramuros: Ciudad monumental y nuevas perspectivas |
2005 © Oficina Virtual de Turismo
Santiago de Compostela is a throbbing, monumental city, quiet and safe,
designed to stroll about it. Two basic itineraries may be followed to walk it
through. The first one starts out at the Romanesque Cathedral, where the
mausoleum of the Apostle Santiago is kept, and where the three carved arches of
the Pórtico de la Gloria, a masterpiece of medieval art, can be seen. In
its interior, one can admire the magnificent baroque high altar, where pilgrims
embrace the sculpture of the Apostle; 16 chapels in different styles, the
museum premises – that extend through the cloister and the Archbishop’s Palace
– and the Sacred Door, which is opened only during the Jubilee Year.
Each façade of the temple looks on to a square: the main façade looks on to the Obradoiro,
which is also surrounded by the Hostal de los Reyes Católicos, the Palacio
de Xelmírez, the Pazo de San Xerome and the Palacio de Raxoi
– Santiago’s City Hall. The oldest façade is that of the Plaza de las Platerías,
a square which leads on to the Quintana, halfway between the Cathedral’s
main façade and the Monastery of San Paio de Antealtares. Finally, the
northern façade, the so-called Azabachería, which looks on to the Monasterio de
San Martiño Pinario.
All these squares will take you, through medieval streets such as Vilar and
Nova, to a granite landscape dominated by urban palaces, churches,
ancient hospitals, invaluable museums, landscaped cloisters, fountains and
vaulted passages. From the central square O Toural you can move on to
the University edifice and its church, right in the Plaza de Abastos
square, the coulorful street market of Compostela. It is easy to get from there
to the Puerta del Camino and have a look at the ensemble formed by the
Convent San Domingos de Bonaval, which holds the premises of the Museo do Pobo
Galego (Museum of Galician Culture); the building opposite to it, the Centro
Galego de Arte Contemporánea (Museum of Contemporary Art), and the Park
of Bonaval.
Back in the old town, starting from Cervantes square, you may visit the Casa de
la Troya, the church of San Miguel dos Agros, the Museo de las
Peregrinaciones (Museum of Pilgrimage), which is nearby, and the church
of the monastery of Pinario. Not far from here you will find the Convent
of San Francisco, from where you will see the Auditorio de Galicia
(Galicia Concert Hall), the park called Parque de la Música and the North
University Campus.
Crossing the Obradoiro once more, at the Rúa do Franco, the street that
starts out right from the Colegio de Fonseca, the gastronomic offer
extends up to the so-called Porta Faxeira, one of the old gates of the
missing city walls, from which you will arrive to the Park of Alameda.
Wandering through its romantic pathways –the so called Paseo de los Leones, the
Paseo de la Herradura, the Carballeira de Santa Susana- you can go down to the South
University Campus in order to start a second panoramic route crossing
ten different parks and gardens provided with privileged viewpoints,
streams and leafy plants. Apart from their lushness, you will discover an
amazing collection of contemporary architecture by Siza, Eisenman,
Hejduk, Kleihues, Gallego, Noguerol, Nouvel and other well-known, international
architects. This walk around the old town would finish by the Colegiata de Santa
María de Sar, the best-preserved, Romanesque building in Santiago in
spite of the sharp inclination of its naves.
+info:
Inside the
city walls: monumental sensation
Outside the
city walls: perspective emotions
|
|
|
|
|
|